Friday, August 24, 2012

Ancient maternity leave

Maternity leave was a feature of Medieval Ireland. The Brehon Laws state
that in the case of a pregnant servant of the household who was unable
to fulfil her workload the man who caused the pregnancy had to provide
relief for the pregnant woman by means of
a replacement worker. The prescribed time period granted was one month
ante-natal leave with a further month for post-natal recuperation.

c.f. Ni Chonaill, B. Child-centred law in medieval Ireland. In Davis,
R. and Dunne, T. (Eds) The Empty Throne: Childhood and the Crisis of
Modernity. Cambridge University Press (2008)